Realgar Wine/Story
I. Cloud in the Courtyard The clouds of smoke swirling in the alchemy lab Translator’s Note: Alchemy lab 丹房 = basically a room for practicing Chinese alchemy. had a pungent scent, and even the square towel, soaked in Pei Lan Translator’s Note: Pei Lan, 佩兰 or 兰草 in Chinese, aka Eupatorium Fortunei. They’re known to be used to get rid of bad breath and made into scented sachet because they smell like orchid (hence their foulness repellent properties), obscuring my nose, couldn’t block out the unpleasant odor. There was a gentle knock on the wooden door. I got up and pushed the window open, and watched as the pale yellow thin fog inside the room swiftly wafted out the window. I removed the towel to confirm that the room’s odor had dissipated, and only then did I turn around to open the door. “Sir Counselor asked when your medicine will be ready.” The servant standing at the door appeared very cool, their indifferent faces showing no unnecessary expressions. I turned to get a piece of yellow paper, then put the pills that I made just then inside a mortar and smashed them into powder. I poured it into the yellow paper bag, then placed it into the servant’s hand. “This is the drug that Master Attendant needs. Remember, under no circumstances should your hands be in direct contact with it.” After nodding, the servants turned and left. I watched their retreating backs, suddenly feeling a little absentminded. My thoughts couldn’t help but drift to when I was first summoned. When I awoke, there was a sort of otherworldly link in my body, telling me that the person standing before me, observing me with an exacting gaze, was my Master Attendant. “You are Realgar Wine, right? What can you do for me?” What could I do for him? I blankly looked at the man before me. All of a sudden, I couldn’t even think of what I was capable of doing. I almost wanted to open my mouth, but I didn’t know how to answer. “Forget it. Seeing as you have a ‘Dan’ furnace Translator’s Note: ‘Dan’ furnace 丹炉 = No English equivalent translations. Literally a type of stove used in Chinese alchemy. Here his master referred to the floating golden glowing pot in Realgar’s art. accompanying your side, I assume you’re someone who can perform alchemy Translator’s Note: The word used here is 炼药制丹 which literally translates to ‘refining medicine and creating Dan’. ‘Dan’ (丹) or (丹药) is a type of drug found in Chinese alchemy; it’s made by combining minerals and metallic bases together to form a pellet. There are different types of Dan medicine, one of which is the Golden Dan (金丹) aka the Elixir of Life.. It’s a coincidence that the devotees need some drugs. From now on, you will create and refine the drugs that we require. I suppose those fantasy crystals did not go to waste summoning you.” Nothing more was said after my Master Attendant turned and left, leaving me, helplessly lost, to be escorted to an alchemy lab. Shortly afterwards, the servants would send an endless flow of raw materials and drug prescriptions to the alchemy lab. After a fixed interval of time, a servant would come by the door to ask me about a drug previously requested for. Within the list of raw materials are common, crude drugs, but there are also extremely rare medicinal herbs. Among those were even a few ores that have energy subtly adhered to them. I once asked where this ore came from, but they would never let me ask these sorts of questions. But even if they weren’t willing to answer me, I could still feel that the energy attached to the ores was of a Food Soul’s soul power. Ever since I was summoned, I practically never left this courtyard. During the occasional instances when I didn’t need to refine medicine, I would always sit at my bedside, looking up at that narrow slice of the sky outside my window, zoning out. Why am I here? What am I doing? I think……what Master wants me to do……is what I ought to do…… I shook my head, unwilling to overthink it. I finished my tea cup in one go, then got up to start preparing my clothes for an outing. My Master had specially tasked me to accompany him in meeting the Holy Lord. II. Cold Spring Night “I’ll leave the business in Sakurajima to you then.” “I will surely fulfill this mission.” A man respectfully withdrew himself from the room that the Holy Lord was in. When I brushed past him, I turned my head around to take a look. It was a man in a half-faced mask, wearing a kariginu Translator’s Note: kariginu- clothing that Japanese nobles originally wore for hunting, but eventually became daily wear for them. that I’d seen before in books, but very rarely found in Light Kingdom. Even though I felt it was somewhat strange, I didn’t have the time to pay the man any further attention. I followed my Master into the hall, and the faint white lights, floating over the hall, were blocked out by thick drapes, and the Holy Lord was seated behind black beaded curtains. “This will have many difficult challenges.Thou hath become a valuable assistant of mine Translator’s Note: 本座 = I (self-proclamation used by those with a godly status e.g saints, god figures), I should not be putting thou at risk. However, after much thought, I still feel this burden can only be thine to bear.” Master Attendant’s breathing became heavy, and his face turned red from excitement. He knelt before the Holy Lord on one knee, and lowered his head submissively. “I will definitely not let your trust in me down.” Upon returning to the alchemy lab, Master Attendant revealed a rare smile. Patting my shoulder, he spoke whilst laughing: “You’ve done well, Realgar Wine! Were it not for those drugs you made, the Holy Lord wouldn’t have given me such a great opportunity this time! Hahahaha!!” “……” “Hurry and pack up your belongings, we’re leaving in a few days.” “Yes.” The question that’s been troubling me for the longest time has finally been answered as I watched my Master’s smile. I want to receive Master’s acknowledgement. I just need to keep on following his instructions and do my best, he will acknowledge me then. I followed Master to an extremely barren land. It’s not a place suitable for humans, but the number of people gathered there was not small. Some were vicious and brawny looking men, their language vulgar; some were petite ladies in flowy clothes. Everyone had their own distinguishable characteristics, but it was only after a long while did I come to realize what they all shared- they were all sinners. This commonality allowed this group of vastly different people to reside on this desolate land, where not even an inch of grass would grow. The piles of money and gold that the sinners brought in were enough to turn this unlivable pit into paradise, but at the time, none of that was important to me. Back then, I was solely focused on creating drugs, and paid no attention to the changes happening in the outside world. I researched day and night, just as I’d been doing before, but I saw Master Attendant less and less. In order to get Master’s approval, I could only push myself harder in working to develop those drugs that Master wanted. During that interminably long period, almost nothing could catch my notice. It was a small incident that finally managed to capture my attention. A fellow, carrying a tobacco pipe in his hand, took advantage of the night and found me; he asked me if I was willing to leave this place. I declined his offer. To me, the life I was living at the time was enough to feel satisfied. Not to mention, Master Attendant was still around. That monocle wearing man stood by the window, staring at me for some time, before finally helplessly lifting his head to gaze at the moon. I remember how the moonlight was particularly bright that night, the occasional few wisps of a cloud could not block out its warm splendor. I didn’t want to respond to him, but I didn’t know why I, too, was attracted to this scenery. I turned my head to look outside the window. Outside my window was an excellently cared-for peach blossom tree. At the time, it just so happened to be the season for peach blossoms blooming, but the peach blossoms outside of my courtyard had taken on a blood-like color in their bloom. I didn’t know if it had anything to do with me pouring residual drugs on them. A light breeze blew past, and the stunningly red petals of the peach blossom fell and fluttered about. The man standing below the tree looked at me, and against the lights, I could only clearly see his monocle, reflected by the white light. The man’s lips pressed together, as though he wanted to tell me something, but the tree branches made a swooshing noise as they were blown by the sudden evening wind, and I couldn’t really hear what the man was saying. I want to know, what exactly did he say to me….. III. Dreams of a Butterfly Life at that place was no different from when I was first summoned. The drugs I produced made my Master Attendant’s status even grander, and it’s because of that that I received even more praise. More than once, I told myself: That’s right, this is what I want to do. Until that day…… Scorching hot crimson devoured all the houses that the eye could see, and following that was the intense sound of explosions. The dark colored sky was smeared with a blooming gradient of blood red. The spiking temperatures and the pounding of my heart made me especially panicked and confused. I removed the towel from my mouth and nose, before rushing out of the alchemy lab. Within the cacophony of deafening noise was the sound of enormous explosions. At that moment, the guards, usually protecting the house, were openly and savagely snatching anything they could get their hands on: countless expensive paintings, works of calligraphy, and jewelry. They turned ornaments into broken fragments as they fought over them, sprinkling their pieces all over the floor. I tightly furrowed my brows as I watched this unbelievable scene. I grabbed onto one of the guards, scrambling to pull the goods on the floor into his arms. “What happened? Where is the Master Attendant?” “Move! The kingdom is about to be destroyed! Who cares where he is!” “The kingdom is about to be destroyed?” “Can’t you see for yourself?! Get outta my way!” The guard impatiently shook off my hand and pushed me back, causing me to stagger back a few steps. The unease within me was growing stronger, so I followed this faint feeling and rushed towards where Master Attendant might be. Finally, I discovered two people in a confrontation, at a corner of the mansion. When he saw my arrival, Master Attendant angrily and exasperatedly yelled: “What took you so long?! Hurry! Kill him!” Master Attendant had all kinds of small and fine scars on his body, I lifted my head to look at the man standing in front of him. That monocle wearing man coolly looked at me, his face had no joy or sorrow, nor did he seem to have any desire to attack me. “He’s using you. Even though it’s like this, you still want to protect him?” The man’s words tore away and revealed the uneasiness that was always within my heart. My hands, hidden inside my sleeves, balled up tightly, and my nails sunk into my palms until the stinging pain brought me back to reality. The man only watched me quietly, as if he were giving me time to think. From the man’s eyes, he must’ve seen the Dan furnace floating by me slowly emit a faint fog that shrouded us both. “I… I know… But, he’s my Master Attendant.” The man wasn’t surprised by my choice, and only let out a soft sigh. This time, I could finally clearly hear what the man spat out when his top and bottom lip grazed one another. “How sad.” The man took a deep drag of that never extinguished tobacco pipe in his hand, as though he were settling his emotions. However, he did not breathe out curling dense smoke, but instead, a fiery dragon of searing heat towards me and Master Attendant. I could no longer suppress that coppery taste in my throat, and the blood I spat out dyed Master Attendant’s boots. Master took a step back in disgust. “You useless thing!” Master Attendant turned and left, without the slightest hesitation, not even sparing me another glance. Watching his retreating back, I suddenly understood the sorrowful implications of what the monocle wearing man said. Yet, another broiling flame, hot enough to melt bone and flesh, was sent in the direction of Master Attendant. I instinctively wanted to reach out my hand, but my already exceptionally weak body fell back onto the ground. Along with the sound of Master’s shrill screams, the violent sensation of our contract severing made me lose control of my Soul Power as I panicked. That coppery tasting blood poured into my throat; however, at that moment, a portion of my Soul Power infused into my inner body. Though it was only a little bit, it was enough to let me to temporarily constrain the chaotic Soul Power that my body could not normally control. “Whether or not you can continue to survive depends on your life.” That man had also sustained heavy injuries from their fight. He held onto his own chest as he looked down on me. With those words, he left me without looking back. My eyelids couldn’t stay open, it was as if they were hung with a thousand heavy burdens. The layers of white fog before me obscured my vision. Finally, my consciousness, too, fell into total darkness…… IV. Predictions of Luck The next time I woke up, the Soul Power in my body had already stabilized, and even though it wasn’t fully restored, I could already shift about my Soul Power to repair my damaged body. I laid on a soft and comfortable bed, not quite large. The little wounds on my body had also been cleaned up and applied with cooling salve. The most serious of my wounds were carefully wrapped in gauze. My tattered clothes were nowhere to be seen, I didn’t know who it was that helped me change into clean underclothes. There was a soft blanket carefully pressed under my hand, even a set of new, clean clothes on the bedside. Sitting up, I wanted to put on a coat, but the dull ache of my body made me hold onto my smothering chest and fall back onto the bed. The dull pain of my body caused my forehead to perspire fine beads of sweat. I struggled to get up again, but ended up falling back even harder than before. In a moment of carelessness, I knocked the back of my head against the bed frame, which made me involuntarily suck in a mouthful of air. “Pff.” The unexpected sound of laughter made my entire body tense up. It was only then that I noticed that there was another person inside the house with me. I unconsciously turned to the person’s, the source of the noise, line of sight. It was a fellow dressed as a military general Translator’s Note: Military commander; the word used here is 武将. The word originated during the Spring and Autumn period 春秋战国, referring to a military general. So when Realgar Wine said Long Feng dressed as such, he doesn’t mean those western military regalia with double breasted coats and everything, but rather (presumably) an armoured hanfu!. He was crudely Translator’s Note: Ill-mannered 毫无形象. The closest English equivalent is ‘someone with bad character’ and ‘someone who lacks manners’ (in terms of their appearance). sitting cross-legged on a chair, in his hand was a bitten chicken leg, there were even soy sauce smears from the red braised chicken leg at the corner of his lips. Looking at his unruly appearance, the question on my lips dissipated as the man’s hand, slicked with oil, drew close to me. “Oh?!!” I instinctively backed away, my back covered in cold sweat and body hair rising. After noticing my terrified expression, the man halted his hand, vaguely looked down at his palm, then apologetically laughed. “Ah sorry, sorry. Didn’t notice, didn’t notice.” He handily pulled out a piece of brocade pocket square Translator’s Note: Brocade pocket square. The word used here is 锦帕, the synonym is 手绢 which also means ‘pocket square’. They are (usually) purely decorative rather than purposeful unlike a handkerchief, which would be 手帕 in Chinese. and wiped his hand clean. A clean hand, still faintly smelling of braised chicken, extended towards me. “I’m Dragon & Phoenix. Some guy on the streets told me you fell unconscious there, so I brought you back.” I hesitantly gripped the offered hand. “……I-I’m Realgar Wine.” V. Realgar Wine Realgar Wine always thought his Master Attendant was the complete meaning of his existence. No matter how apathetic his Master was, he’d always do his best to complete all of his Master’s wishes. No matter how difficult the drugs were to make, he always succeeded, never disappointing his Master’s expectations. But that night, as Peking Duck stood beneath the moon, the bright, pale moonlight applied a layer of gentle, warm splendor to Peking Duck’s face. Realgar Wine had seen him before at a gathering. For some unknown reason, Realgar Wine never exposed Peking Duck’s identity as a Food Soul to his Master Attendant and the others. Perhaps it was a mutual understanding between two members of the same species, perhaps it was because he didn’t take it to heart- Realgar Wine could no longer remember why he didn’t expose Peking Duck. But it was really because of his reluctance to speak up Translator’s Note: 三缄其口, a proverb describing someone who is very cautious with their words, or someone who is unwilling/doesn’t dare to speak., and Peking Duck, initially worried he would be exposed, took an interest in this stony-faced Food Soul. Realgar Wine suddenly felt a blast of bone chilling cold as he watched the somewhat sympathetic look in Peking Duck’s eyes. Does he not know his Master Attendant was using him? No, he knew. He just wasn’t willing to face the matter, that’s all. But even so, he still instinctively stood in front of his Master Attendant, trying to protect his Master from Peking Duck’s clutches. His Master Attendant cast his fighting abilities aside and fled; as Realgar Wine watched his retreating back, he suddenly understood why Peking Duck thought of him as so pitiful. He regarded his Master as the full meaning of existence, willingly let himself to be used. Even after knowing the truth, he didn’t hesitate in choosing to protect his Master—because that was the only thing he thought he could do. Realgar Wine dazedly looked at the sky outside the window. There was no difference between the sky at that moment, and the narrow sky in the window of back then, but he still did not know what was his direction for the future. “What do you want to do in the future?” Realgar Wine blankly looked at Dragon & Phoenix. He lowered his head to look at his own two hands, suddenly feeling as though he’d returned to the past. Back when he was first summoned, his Master had asked the same thing. What can you do for me? “I…… I can help you make medicine……” “I didn’t ask what you can help me with, I’m asking what you want to do.” “……” Realgar Wine resignedly looked at Dragon & Phoenix, and his hands unconsciously tightly clenched under the sleeves of his clothes. Dragon & Phoenix looked at Realgar Wine’s lips, bitten to the point of turning white, and let out a sigh, extending his hand out to push down Realgar Wine’s head. “I know you’ve just recovered from heavy injuries. Telling you this may not be proper, but do you know what kind of consequences your past actions have caused?” Dragon & Phoenix brought Realgar Wine to see those villages, previously wrecked by the cults. As he watched Realgar Wine’s bewildered expression, he ultimately chose to believe Peking Duck’s words. “If you are willing, I hope you can save him. He and those people are not the same, he was only doing it for his Master Attendant. As someone who’s also a Food Soul, you ought to understand just how extraordinarily special the existence of a Master Attendant is to us.” '' ''“Why don’t you save him yourself?” “……Because my Master also did the things he did for the sake of his hometown.” “You really believe he wasn’t doing all that of his own will?” “He’s a very pitiful fellow……” “Why do you say that?” “You’ll know once you rescue him……” It was as though Peking Duck wasn’t willing to talk too much about this matter. He left slowly, with the help of Yuxiang’s support as he leaned against her arm. Dragon & Phoenix looked at Realgar Wine, feebly breathing on the ground. He angrily kicked away the gravel next to his feet, gritting his teeth as he extended his hand towards Realgar Wine. Standing outside the destroyed village, Long Feng looked at the ghastly white color of Realgar Wine’s complexion and grabbed him by the collar of his clothes. “See that? This is the effect of those drugs you made.” “I, I…… I’m sorry……” Dragon & Phoenix loosened his grip on Realgar Wine’s neckline, and reached out a hand to mess up Realgar Wine’s well kept hair. “There are many people you should be saying sorry to, but I am not one of them.” “……Then what…… should I do?” Dragon & Phoenix didn’t know why, but he felt there was no way for him to let go of this fellow, who looked like he was at his limits. He irritatedly scratched at his own hair “Forget it, forget it. I’ll keep you company. But you better repay me in the future!” “……Really? I-I- I’ll definitely repay you!” Translator's Notes Note: Citations are usually indicated by the # hovering near the sentence. Category:Food Soul Story